7/16/12, "HSBC Helped Terrorists, Iran, Mexican Drug Cartels Launder Money, Senate Report Says," Forbes, Fontevecchia
7/16/12, "Senate report: HSBC 'allowed drug money laundering'," BBC
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HSBC came in #1 when banks were asked to "explain how they are factoring carbon costs into their lending decisions...as carbon-reducing regulations take hold worldwide." US CO2 emissions have dropped steadily since at least 2006 and are going lower, so the issue of US CO2 is moot. Other countries' CO2 hasn't dropped--despite billions spent on cap and trade and extra taxes. The article below touting HSBC was written in 2008 before the US CO2 drop had been publicized but during the time HSBC aided terrorists and drug lords.
1/11/08, "HSBC, Other European Banks Receive Top Scores in First-Ever Ranking of 40 Leading Banks on Climate Change Strategies," CSRwire (Corporate Social Responsibility)
"While encouraging progress is being made, the banking sector still has a long way to go in confronting the business challenges posed by global climate change, according to a first-ever report issued today by the Ceres investor coalition that analyzes climate change governance practices of 40 of the world’s largest banks.
Banks and financial institutions, with nearly $6 trillion in market capitalization, are a key player in combating the impacts of climate change and supporting the investments necessary to move the world economy on a pathway to reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
The report found that a growing number of European, U.S. banks and Japanese banks are responding to the risks and opportunities presented by climate change, primarily by setting internal greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, boosting climate-related equity research and elevating lending and financing for clean energy projects. But many others are still not addressing climate change and only a handful of the 40 banks have begun integrating climate risks into their core business of lending by pricing carbon into their finance decisions or setting targets to reduce GHG emissions in their lending portfolios.
The shortcomings were evident in the report's final scores. Using a 1- to 100-point scoring system, the two highest scoring banks were European-based HSBC Holdings and ABN AMRO with 70 points and 66 points, respectively. More than half of the 40 banks scored under 50 points, with a median score of 42 points.
"More banks realize that climate change is a big business issue, but their responses so far are the tip of the iceberg of what is needed to tackle this colossal global challenge," said Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres, which published the report, Corporate Governance and Climate Change: The Banking Sector. "As a key provider of capital and financing worldwide, banks must do more to move the economy away from fossil fuels and high-carbon investments that are exacerbating climate change."
The report employs a "Climate Change Governance Checklist" to evaluate how 16 U.S. and 24 non-U.S. banks are addressing climate change through board of director oversight, management performance, public disclosure, GHG emissions accounting and strategic planning. The report took six months to complete and uses data from securities filings, company reports, company websites, third-party questionnaires and direct company communications.
The report ranked 16 U.S., 15 European, five Asian, three Canadian and one Brazilian bank. The 40 companies include several different classes of financial services firms, including diversified banks, investment banks and asset managers. The final scores are weighted to reflect the fact that some of the banks – specifically, asset mangers and investment banks – are not engaged in the full spectrum of product and service offerings assessed by the Climate Change Governance Checklist. (Company scores, profiles and the summary report are available at www.ceres.org.)
Among the key scores:
| Bank Category | Highest Scorers | Lowest Scorers | |||||
| Diversified Banks (20 Total) | HSBC(70 points) | Bank of Nova Scotia(26 points) | |||||
| ABN AMRO(66) | TD Bank Financial(25) | ||||||
| Barclays (61) | Mizuho Financial (24) | ||||||
| HBOS (61) | Banco Santander (22) | ||||||
| Deutsche (60) | Banco do Brasil (14) | ||||||
| Citigroup (59) | Industrial Bank of China (8) | ||||||
| Bank of America (56) | Bank of China (4) | ||||||
| Investment Banks (5 Total) | Goldman Sachs (53) | Lehman Brothers (26) | |||||
| Merrill Lynch (52) | Bear Stearns (0) | ||||||
| Morgan Stanley (49) | |||||||
| Asset Managers (6 Total) | State Street Corp (36) | Franklin Resources (1) | |||||
Leading institutional investors requested the Ceres report, authored by RiskMetrics Group’s Climate Research Team, to boost understanding and awareness about the banking sector’s role and response to climate change. The investors are part of the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), an alliance of U.S. institutional investors coordinated by Ceres that collectively manage more than $4 trillion in assets.
"Over the next 40 years, we're looking at the virtual de-carbonization of industrial economies if the warnings of climate scientists are going to be heeded," said lead author Douglas Cogan, director of Climate Change Research at RiskMetrics Group. "Banks need to start re-ordering their investment and lending priorities now, especially in the energy sector, to reflect changing asset and credit valuations."
The five highest scoring banks were all based in Europe – HSBC, ABN AMRO, Barclays, HBOS and Deutsche Bank – followed by Citigroup, Bank of America and the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The report provides much evidence that many banks are responding to climate change through equity research and new product offerings, with European banks being in the forefront and many U.S. banks following closely behind. Many of the positive actions have come in the past 12 to 18 months, especially in regard to disclosure, internal emissions management and financial support for clean energy....
Yet for all of the positive momentum, many of the 40 banks have done little or nothing to elevate climate change as a governance priority – a trend that cuts across European, North American and Asian banks alike. For example:
The report concludes that more action is needed to align the banking sector with greenhouse gas reductions that scientists say are needed to avoid the dangerous impacts of climate change. In this regard, the report recommends that banks:
Read: Corporate Governance and Climate Change: The Banking Sector (pdf)
Bank Profiles: U.S. Banks (pdf)
Canadian Banks (pdf)
European Banks (pdf)
Asia/Pacific Island/Other Banks (pdf)
Listen to the Press Conference here
About Ceres and INCR:
Ceres is a leading coalition of investors, environmental groups and other public interest organizations working with companies to address sustainability challenges such as climate change. Ceres directs the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), a network of 60 institutional investors with collective assets totaling more than $4 trillion. For more information, visit www.ceres.org and www.incr.com"
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About climate "action" taking place in the US:
Global Warming "action" was institutionalized in US government in 1990 by George Bush the 1st. 13 federal agencies are tasked with climate "action," $68 billion has been spent on 'climate' in just the past 4 yrs. Other countries' CO2 hasn't dropped--despite billions spent on cap and trade and extra taxes.
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Wealthy groups like Ceres have set up their own 'transnational' governments outside the confines of traditional state and national governments and pesky elections. The following was listed for reference on Ceres Wikipedia page:
2005, "The Institutionalization of Private Governance: How Business and Nonprofit Organizations Agree on Transnational Rules," Philipp Patteberg
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